It has been a tough summer for the Nats, but even a tougher summer for Nats ace MacKenzie Gore as he struggles to throw strikes. How concerned should the team be, and how concerned are you? We get you caught up on the Nats farm system as we give you a Nats prospect stock report, who's been up and who's been down? Lastly, we preview the Brewers-Nats series.
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It's the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Take your business further with a smart and flexible American Express business gold card. You can earn four times points on your top two eligible spending categories every month, like transit, U.S. restaurants, and gas stations. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Four times points on up to $150,000 in purchases per year. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com/businessgoldcard. As 2024 has progressed for the Washington Nationals, one guy in particular has kind of taken a step back, and that is your ace, Mackenzie Gore. So how concerned should you be? I'll tell you after this. You are locked on nationals. You're daily Washington Nationals podcast, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day. And thank you all for making lockdown nationals your first us and every single day as we are free. And available wherever you get your podcast. And of course, I'm your host, Ryan Clary. You can catch me over on Twitter at Ryan Clary, 11, and as well as our show page at hello_nationals. For our latest national news notes, make sure to check us out over on Twitter. And of course, while you're at it, make sure to search up locked on nationals wherever you get your podcast, including over on YouTube. Again, just search locked on nationals, drop the thumbs up or even a thumbs down if you don't like the show. It's no problem. It's your podcast. You decide what you like and what you don't like. So that is the fun part of the show. But again, just search locked on nationals while you're at it. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast. And also catch you over on Twitter at Ryan Clary, 11. Later on in today's show, we will be discussing the Brewers in the national series as Milwaukee heads into DC tonight in the nationals. They open up a pretty big home stand. So per usual on this Friday, we'll preview that series starting tonight with Jake Ervin on the bump against Freiki Montas, someone that we actually just faced here recently. But we'll have that series preview for you a little bit later on in the show today, as I just hiccup right then and there, but second segment. It is a Nat Stock Report Friday for your Washington nationals prospects. Now, if you're an everyday or out there, you usually know the drill, you usually get three stock ups and two stock downs. The nationals, this time around, we're going to change it up. You've got four stock ups because I cannot choose between some of these guys. So four stock ups, only one stock down. And that stock down is a former first round pick and we'll discuss that in the second segment of today's show, but we're going to start with, of course, Mackenzie Gore. Mackenzie Gore, as the season has progressed, he has taken a step back. He has. And I think we all kind of noticed that, but still before we get into it, today's episode is brought to you by Fandall make every moment more as playoffs wind down. The sports stop, sportsing like we want them to, but this summer, Fandall is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long to visit fandall.com to get started. So again, we're going to get started right here discussing this kind of big deal that has been happening here recently. This is something that has kind of been unfolding all summer long. Mackenzie Gore has taken a step back. That is something that you cannot argue anymore. My hand is up. I thought Mackenzie Gore would be the ace of the staff by now. I thought he would take a bigger step up in the second half of this season and he still got his two months to prove himself. But if you really look at the numbers overall, how concerned are you about Mackenzie Gore? I'll answer that right now. I am a little concerned. Am I worried about the future of him as a starting pitcher? Not that concerned. But I've always said that I don't think the Nationals need to go get nays. I think the Nationals are just fine with Mackenzie Gore as their one pitcher going forward. I think I'm ready to kind of wave that white flag. What's the concern level that I have? Is he going to be a good starting pitcher for this team down the road? Absolutely. Do I still think he has the highest ceiling of all the starting pitchers in this rotation? Check. Yes, I do. But what I am rethinking is him being the ace of the staff. I think now going into this off season, you do need to go get your Mack Scherzer. And that's what kind of got the Nationals over the hump over the last few seasons. Again, looking back in the 2012 and then 2014, the Nationals and those postseason teams, they were good. They had solid starting pitching. But you still kind of needed that home run hitter for a starting pitcher. Mike Rizzo went out and he signed Mack Scherzer. People saw young's later, multiple know hits later, in a World Series champion and a game seven starter later in the World Series, you got your Mack Scherzer. I think the Nationals now need that. And again, some people may already out there be thinking, well, we knew that Ryan. Admittedly, I did not. I thought Mackenzie Gore had the opportunity to be your number one starter. To be your Mack Scherzer. To be that big game kind of pitcher. I'm not sure that's going to be the case. Now again, can Gore still be that guy? I still think there is an outside chance of him being that number one guy that teams covet that want to see get an extension or whatever it is. Mackenzie Gore is still an above average pitcher, in my opinion. But you can't help but notice the flaws. And the flaws that continue to bite him in the butt, lack of throwing strikes, walking a lot of guys. This is now over two years now. You saw the step up with Josiah Gray as year two in his full season and he was an all star. Was it a little flooky? Sure. Mackenzie Gore has a higher ceiling though. Mackenzie Gore is just about as old as Josiah Gray was this time last year when he wasn't all star. But since June, Mackenzie Gore in 11 starts has a 6-3-6 ERA, 50 strikeouts to 27 walks in 52 and a third innings pitch with 37 earned runs. This has not been a good stretch whatsoever in fact. He's only thrown strikes 63% of the time. That's not good enough. That's not good enough for any starting pitcher out there, let alone to be a front line of the rotation kind of guy. You need to see more. Now the underlying metrics, metrics rather, of Mackenzie Gore, they're still pretty good. One stat that I really like to look at, especially for kind of a poor team, which the nationals we talked about yesterday, this is not that good of a baseball team. We know that. His fielding independent pitching, which really just kind of hones in on home runs, hits, and all the individual stats for a major league pitcher, he's at a 4-0-2 right now. That's relatively decent. I think that does kind of show you a little bit of an underlying factor here. The nationals defense isn't all that good. We kind of know that. And now you take out Lane Thomas of the equation, one of your better defenders, even though the metrics may say otherwise. But how sure are we about right field now when you have a gold glove finalist who you just traded away? In the short run with Mackenzie Gore over the course of this season, I am concerned. He needs to finish strong. And again, I don't know if it's the summer heating up, the ball flying, because he started off this season looking like the guy that I always thought he would be, our 2024 version of Mack Scherzer. But he has now taken that step back and he's looking like a 2014 version of a Dan Heron. And if you remember that name, there are some expectations with them. Mackenzie Gore, he has way higher expectations than Dan Heron ever will. But sitting here today, I have to be a little concerned about where your ace is right now. Over the long run though, I still think Mackenzie Gore will be a middle rotation, two to three starter kind of guy. And I think the nationals have all the faith in the world of him being that. But I was under the impression that he could be your ace. I don't think that's the case anymore. So my concern level, it's not too high, but it's also not low. I am just genuinely concerned. Because again, this is now a track record, walking too many guys. Not throwing enough strikes, which kind of marry each other obviously. When things get bad, they get bad. It's a snowball rolling down a hill that eventually becomes some massive wrecking ball. Those are what Mackenzie Gore's bad starts are. And that's what he needs to improve all kind of keep a level head and try to see if he can get through the rough patches because ultimately, there have been some very tough patches with this kid and he's just going to have to find a way to work his way through it. We just have to see what Mackenzie Gore does. But of course, to answer the question, long run, am I overly concerned? Not all too much. But in the short term, I am concerned. I still think he's going to be a very good MLB pitcher. But over his last 11 starts, he has been getting rocked around, rocked. And that might be an understatement. Thank you all for making lockdown nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. So on Fridays, we always get you a nat's prospect stock report as we have our eyes in the future here with locked on nationals. There's no better coverage here on daily nationals content than right here on locked on nationals. And of course, we'll have a Brewers Nat Series preview in the third segment. But next is your nat's prospect stock report. And this time, you've got four stock ups and only one stock down. That's how good the kids have been down in the minor. So we'll catch you up on some of the action there. But before we do that, I'm going to tell you guys about some of our very good friends over at Fandal and guys, we've talked about Fandal all the time and you know that I love sports and you love them and we love them so much and we never want them to stop. But as the playoffs aren't done, we have fewer games and of course, maybe even some Olympic games. And the sports aren't really sports like I want them to, but Fandal lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. And this summer, Fandal is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. If you want to go in tonight's game and you think James would hit the home run against Frankie Montas. I can tell you this, you're going to be getting some nice plus money on that. Maybe you even think Luis Garcia Jr. because he has been a little bit hot recently. Can he get back in the swing of things? I'm going to say so. So when you do that, head over to Fandal.com and start making the most out of your summer. Fandal is the official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. Again, just head over to Fandal.com and make the most out of your summer. Now, let me tell you guys about some of our very good friends over at Supply House and guys. Get supplies from the sites that matter for the most skilled trades out there, supplyhouse.com. Supplyhouse.com is a reliable way to order plumbing, HVAC and electrical products online. They're easy to use. Website is packed with helpful resources and the latest product info to help you get the job done right. Shop a complete inventory of over 200,000 parts from over 400 top brands and get your order delivered right to your door with baths, shipping from coast to coast. Need help with their order? Get expert support and industry leading service from the friendliest folks in the business and talk to a real person every time pros and the skilled trades can get a competitive edge by joining supplyhouse.com's free trade master program. Every trade master gets access to a dedicated phone line, free shipping and discounts on every order. Join the thousands of trade pros already benefiting from their free membership at supplyhouse.com/TM and order plumbing, HVAC and electrical supplies from anywhere with just a few clicks at supplyhouse.com. Next segment we'll be discussing the NAC's Brewers series. The Brewers come to town here in DC and the Nationals open up a pretty decent home stand which Dylan Cruz might make a debut just saying. But now we get into a NAC stock report here. As always we do three stock ups because we like to be a little positive but we also have two stock downs but this time we've got four stock ups we've only got one stock down. The kids have been battling and as the Nationals they have rejuvenated this farm system you're going to hear about it today and we start off with a stock up for Brady House. Brady House since getting promoted to AAA Rochester has been killing the baseball. He's got a 3/16 batting average, a 3/33 OBP, a 4/74 slug which is what I want to see from Brady House and an 8/07 OPS he's got two home runs, 11 RBI's, three doubles, 13 strikeouts to two walks. I'd like to see him walk a little more, cut down on this strikeouts just a little bit because Brady House has his impact swing and I've always said this, I feel like Brady House at the big league level, even more so than James Wood and Dylan Cruz. I think Brady House could be the best overall hitter up in the major leagues. That might be a crazy thing to think even to say but I think he is that special of a hitter. I think he is a neat talent, I'm really liking what he is doing so far in AAA and if he keeps it up at this pace he's going to be in the majors for a few weeks here in September. That's how close we are. I could see Brady House doing it and maybe depending on how he does, competing for that opening day third base spot. We'll see what the Nationals ultimately do with that but Brady House has been a huge, plus here recently, getting up to Rochester has been awesome for him so it's good to see that. Speaking of someone who was in Rochester and another former first round pick, 2019 first round pick, he gets a stock down, his name is Jackson Rutledge. Are we done with him as a starting pitcher? He's got roughly a 70 ERA on the season, he has 60 hits in his last 55 and a third innings pitch. He already walks in that timeframe as well, he's got a 1-6-3 whip on the season, or on his last 11 starts. Watch me as I sit my coffee, I'm done with it. I don't know what else to say, long-term reliever, you'll want to dome, that's kind of what I'm expecting with Jackson Rutledge. The experiment is over, you've had your time to develop, he has not developed even though he did actually look good in his one major league start down in Milwaukee, but when are we going to give up? Because for me, the time to give up is now. He's not going to be a starter in the majors, getting him that long-term reliever role and see what he can do. So it has not been good, but now we've got three stockups to give you, and one of them being one of your better prospects who just made the return off the I.L., Yo-Hod-D, Yo-Yo were Alice, two games in Fredericksburg for his rehab, two home runs, four RBIs, a stolen base, and a single. Now it's only two games, but you're coming off the I.L., you're down in low-way Fredericksburg, and you hit two home runs, you've already met your season total for home runs, and even then last year, Yo-Hondie Morales in the 40+ games that he played across Fredericksburg, High-A, and as well as Double-A, he was the Nationals' best hitter from the second half of the minor league system. Yo-Yo is going to be a legit guy. He is going to be a very good hitter. The problem is, or really not the problem, what I want to see is more power, and through his first two games, he hit two home runs, and last year, he never even hit a home run and his slugging was way up, and one of the better ones over the second half of the season from the Nationals. So, Yo-Hondie Morales is back. He's playing solid over at third base. He's hitting for power. He's stealing bases. This is what you want to see. This is the farthest of the I have always dreamed of over the last few years, and it's starting to come into fruition right here and right now. Yo-Hondie Morales was a second round pick, by the way. We have another second round pick, by the name of Daelin Lyle, stock up for him. Over his last nine games in AA, he's got 10 hits in total, at 313-371-438 in 809-OPS. In those nine games, Daelin Lyle is starting to turn it up a little bit in AA Harrisburg, 21 years old, young prospect, a lot of skills, a lot of talents, a lot of tools that he possesses. He is a flashy player and again, you're starting to see him shine at that double AA level. My big concern with Daelin Lyle is, I don't know how much room we really have for him. Now, you could talk about Robert Hassella III. He's been hurt. I still like Hassella III as a prospect. I still like what he can be down the road, but Daelin Lyle is one of those guys where, if the Nationals are competing next year, or maybe this offseason, they want to go and get a starting pitcher, similar to what the Orioles did. To me, I think Daelin Lyle is that guy where they trade away and try to get a veteran starting pitcher in the door with a little bit of control left. Daelin Lyle is a well thought of prospect right now. Again, a Gatorade player of the year at a high school in Kentucky, he's got a lot of talent, he's really starting to come into his own, growing into his body, he's gotten a lot bigger. I mean, Daelin Lyle is one of those guys where you're going to have to keep an eye on him because he has been very impressive so far in AA. Speaking of impressive, talk about this 17 year old, then in the DSL, it's not to seal Tahata, it's Angel Feliz, one of your top prospects in the DSL, one of your better ones in fact, and over his last 10 games, he's batting 296, a 375 OVP, a 481 slug and 856 in that timeframe as well. He's got nine stolen bases, four walks, four Ks, he's got a triple and he's got a home run as well. Angel Feliz was a mid tier kind of guy when the Nationals signed him in the international signing class, 17 years old. He has been very impressive down in the Dominican Republic. I don't know what the deal is and why the Nationals never really kind of rushed these guys up, but I do know there are some complicating matters outside of baseball with just being here at your passport and your visa and all that stuff, so maybe that's part of this issue right now why the Nationals haven't flown this kid up. But, find a way, because this kid is really good, he was a DSL all-star for you alongside DeSeal Tahada as well, who a lot of Nationals fans have been following closely, but don't forget about Angel Feliz. This kid has been really good and again, he's got a little bit of power, he's got stolen base potential, really good defensively, getting on base, he is slugging, he was doing all the things that you want him to do and that is why he gets a stock up on today's Nat's Prospect Stock Report. Thank you all for being locked on Nationals, your first list every single day as we are free and available. So, wherever you get your podcast, let's get you a series previews and Nationals, take on the Brewers today, will the Nationals win? This is a tough series, we're going to get a pretty solid starting pitching, so we'll discuss that, but before that, I'm going to tell you guys about our friends over at Liquid IV and of course, if you're like me, get to work out or maybe you go to a baseball game, if you're taking an America's pastime, you cannot forget to hydrate with Liquid IV and of course, get hydrated with electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients from the number one powdered hydration brand in America. 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You know we love talking stats here at Locked On Rockies, here's one that's super simple to remember, discover automatically doubles the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match, that means with discover you could turn $150 cashback to $300, that's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia you've had your eye on or treat yourself to a premium sports network, you earn and discover doubles, see terms at discover.com/creditcard. Now we get back into it with the Nationals, taking on the Milwaukee Brewers in tonight's game which by the way there is a chance of rain, Frankie Montas against Jake Urban. This is one of those games where again, all I really care about up to this point is individual performances all the way through the end of September through the end of the regular season through all the games, game 162, whatever way you look at it, Frankie Montas against Jake Urban. Jake Urban needs to pound the zone which he has done a very good job of by the way, but when he does pound the zone he tends to get pounded as well, that is not all too great, but still, Jake Urban, go out there, deliver a quality start, Davey Martinez, there's nothing to lose, don't go to your bullpen, you've gutted the bullpen, you don't really have all too many guys that are going to help you out at this point, but then in tomorrow's game, Aaron Savali against DJ Hers, similar equation there, DJ Hers has been really good in my opinion, a lot better than what the numbers indicate, but then on Sunday, right hand of pitcher Tobias Myers against your lefty, Mitchell Parker, money making Mitch, marijuana Mitch, whichever one Mitch you want to go with, I'll go with as well, Mitchell Parker, if he has a rough start, some people may think this is crazy, you may be upset that, if Mitchell Parker has a really tough start on Sunday, we might have to have a conversation about him being optioned in AAA, it's not that crazy at this point, and it's not because he's bad, this is somewhat I think is going to be in the starting rotation going into next year pretty easily, but at this point in time, you don't want the kid to go out there and just get slack every time, that's kind of what it has been like, he has not been himself, and again, it's been overwhelmingly not that great. So look forward to that, I want to see him really bounce back and kind of just be good because his first 10, 11, 12 starts the season were wildly impressive, but since then, he's kind of taken a step back and you're starting to notice it with his numbers in 2024. So we'll see what he does, but you guys get to watch this series, it's a weekend series against the brew crew, we'll see what the nationals can do, but ultimately, let's see what the kids do, have fun, play baseball, enjoy the weather, enjoy Nat's baseball, catch you on the flip side, have a good one. Hey Prime Members, you can listen to this lock-down podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today. (upbeat music)
